Ontario, California. Before 9/11. Before everything changed.

Charlie Poore never wanted to be a revolutionary. He wanted a steady job, cold beer with friends, and a future he could count on. His older brother Smiley wanted more. Charismatic, fearless, and impossible to ignore, Smiley believes the system is rigged against working people and that someone needs to fight back.

As factory jobs disappear, families struggle, and corporate decisions shatter the lives of ordinary workers, the brothers find themselves at the center of a movement that captures the imagination of an entire community. What begins as an act of rebellion grows into something much larger, turning Charlie, Smiley, and their friend Fat Eddy into unlikely folk heroes.

Told through the eyes of Charlie years later, The New Desperados is a story of brotherhood, family, faith, loss, redemption, and the fading American dream. Set against the backdrop of Southern California's Inland Empire, it explores the cost of loyalty, the power of hope, and what happens when ordinary people decide they have had enough.

A moving and unforgettable literary novel about working-class America, the people we love, and the choices that define us.